Everybody involved in Visit Swindon is genuinely excited by the creation of the new Swindon Tourism Group.

Supported by Swindon Borough Council, Visit Swindon’s primary goal is to showcase one of Britain’s most diverse and lively towns, highlighting the many reasons why out-of-town visitors are spoilt for choice when it comes to entertainment, shopping, outdoor activities, heritage, sporting facilities and nightlife.

Central to that proposition is the website visitswindon.org.uk, created and content-managed by Swindon’s leading design and branding agency, Jazzbones Creative.

Visit Swindon’s sister site – switchontoswindon.com – has done sterling work attracting entrepreneurs, innovative companies and talented employees to one of Britain’s most highly regarded business hubs. Visit Swindon’s goal is to make the same waves in the leisure and travel sectors - a task that will be more viable with the creation of the new Swindon Tourism Group.

The Swindon Tourism Group held its inaugural meeting at Doubletree by Hilton Hotel on 22nd January 2020. As well as Jazzbones Creative director Nathan Sandhu, attendees included representatives from Swindon Borough Council, Brunel Centre, Swindon Speedway, Swindon Wildcats, GWR, InSwindon, STEAM, Designer Outlet, Blunsdon Hotel, Doubletree by Hilton Hotel, Jurys Inn, Royal Oak/Helen Browning’s Chop House, and Wyvern Theatre.

According to statistics from Visit England™, the South West represents the highest proportion of all English regions for domestic overnight trips, 19% of total trips, and 23% of spend, in 2015 – 19.7 million trips and £4.4 billion in spend. There were also 136 million day trips (10% of all day trips in England), with £5.2 billion in spending.

Reflecting on those figures, Nathan Sandhu from Jazzbones says: “Currently Swindon is miles away from attracting its fair share of that tourism pie. The goal of the new Swindon Tourist Group is to bring together all the town’s major players to develop a strategy that positions Swindon as an alternative or compliment to neighbouring cities like Bath or Oxford when it comes to leisure and days out.”

With fantastic travel links, both by road and train, Swindon is uniquely placed to attract visitors from beyond its borders. Importantly, its catchment area includes areas where a significant number of residents have high levels of disposable income. From the northern edge of Swindon, it is barely a 15-minute drive to Cirencester, the so called ‘Capital of the Cotswolds’. Oxford is only 30 miles away, Bath just 36.

According to Nathan: “By putting the right people in the same room on a regular basis we can all increase our understanding of the tourism market and industry, work to maximise Swindon’s potential and decide how we can work together to share resources and expertise.”

Lee Kilby, co-promoter, at Swindon Speedway adds, "Swindon Robins Speedway club are proud to be a part of the new Swindon Tourism Group. Like all the businesses and organizations involved in the group, we are proud of our town and have the best interests of Swindon at heart. We're looking forward to the positive work this group can do to actively and collectively promote Swindon and our surrounding area."

Sally Price, Commercial Manager for Swindon Wildcats, is another advocate: "It's really important to shout about our wonderful town, we have so much to offer and the Swindon Tourism Group is another great platform to showcase to our visitors how great our town really is."

Contact: Central Library (Visit Swindon) 01793 463238 / infocentre@swindon.gov.uk.